What students say.......

Our donors taught us to celebrate life and to never forget the need for humanity and compassion in medicine – a lesson that could never be explained in any textbook. ~ Heather

Thank you for giving the most generous and most selfless gift. Thank you for wanting to help us, for trusting us, and for believing in us. In that relationship, perhaps more than the physical connection we shared, our donors were truly our first patients. ~Trevor

The donors taught us more than any single patient could. We discovered and studied the entire human body, and the donors were awesome teachers. ~Megan

Our bodies are our dearest possession and to agree to be a donor knowing the consequence makes these people real life heroes to me. ~Brian

Anatomy lab allowed me to start to understand how the beautiful and complex body structures fit together and appear in real life. Structures were transformed from my imagination or a drawing to objects that could be viewed, touched and compared with other bodies. ~Ken

I want to express my deepest gratitude to the donors and their families for their generous gift. Studying from your loved-one helped me to come one step closer to becoming a competent physician. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. ~Jessica

The donor was the best anatomy teacher we could have had. Because we knew what a huge sacrifice this must have been for him and his family, we gave our donor the utmost respect and tried very hard to learn everything we could. I am honored that I was given such a unique opportunity. ~Alison

I realized how different we all are. Studying from different bodies made me realize that medicine is definitely not an exact science, that each person is a different individual, and that we need to remember this when treating our patients in the future. ~Anil

Thank you for your contribution. With your donation, you educated a group of medical students who can then reach out to countless numbers of patients. You ultimately helped and benefited an international, cross-socioeconomic, cross-cultural network of people. ~Ting

Anatomy lab gave me a greater appreciation of how human beings could help others. The donors gave their bodies to students so that we could not only learn by pictures but on a real person. I not only attained a visual 3D imprint of what anatomical structures were like, but I also developed a sense of respect for the generosity of these people. ~Jon

This experience will be with me for the rest of my life; during every patient encounter. Rest assured, we took excellent care of your loved-one and treated her with respect and care. ~Carlos

They gave knowing they would get nothing in return, with no promise of thanks for their actions, and I really admire that. They contributed to the base of my medical education more than any textbook or lecture ever could. ~Alex

My appreciation for the reality of the human body as well as awe for the design of the systems that keep us alive has grown more than I can explain. I cannot think of a better introduction and motivation to our study of medicine. ~Grace

I would like to thank the donors and their families for giving me the opportunity to work with the donor's body. I am grateful to not only the donors but also to the families for providing me with one of the most critical experiences of my medical education. ~Ryan

It was a great learning experience to be able to work with someone who so generously donated herself to further my medical education. Our donor taught us things that no book ever could: to regard others with sensitivity and respect. ~Ashley

The most powerful part of the experience for me was looking at the hands. Our man had these huge, strong hands. They were curled-in a bit, as if he was in the process of grabbing something. And it just made me pause...my grandpa, who was a carpenter, had hands like his – I bet my donor made beautiful things too. Strong hands yet - always willing to cradle and play with a grand-daughter. ~Janet

It was the first experience I have had with death. Thank you for allowing your loved-one to be my teacher. He gave his body for my education and taught me about compassion, vulnerability and altruism. ~Rachel

There are no words to express the gift that the donors and their families gave and the impact they had on our medical education and our future careers. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! ~Claire

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The Anatomical Gift Registry at the Medical College of Wisconsin is a non-profit program that promotes advancement of medical education and science. Financial contributions directly support medical student education and surgical training for MCW students, residents and physicians.